SeaClear II

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Aug 15, 2010
376
MacGregor 22 Hilo
You know I'm a newbie, not a salesman; but I was just curious if any of you folks have ever tried this?

http://www.officialnoaacharts.com/

I got one and it seems to work pretty well in my living room: turned my laptop into a GPS / Chartplotter (and more) for about $60.

When we recently took the Coasties Boating Safely course, the instructor told us about information available online: charts, weather, etc. SCII seems to give you all that and more: every chart in the universe; access to real time info on currents, automated navigation, calculators, etc.

When I finish restoring our 78Mac22, we're going to start out safe: inside the Hilo and Kawaihae Breakwaters at first, before venturing out for short trips to, and then overnight stays at, nearby anchorages.

But my goal is to sail this boat to all the Hawaiian Islands.

:eek: Yes folks, that's what the crazy rookie said: sail the Hawaiian Islands. :eek::naughty::eek:

(Sound Byte: Quint in the movie Jaws: "Farewell and adieu to you fine Spanish ladies...") :dance:

Anyway, I've been using Google Earth to examine sailing routes: I know it's not precisely accurate for navigation, but it gives a good idea of where places are in relationship to each other. (Can't believe how beautiful these islands are. So many places we want to see.)

We know the sea here can turn ugly fast; so we're always trying to learn all we can.

So far, I think the SeaClear II package is pretty good; but we always lend an open ear to those with greater experience, who might have found flaws we should be aware of.

So, what do you folks think about SeaClear II?

VBR,

Pat
 

Squidd

.
Sep 26, 2011
890
AMF Alcort Paceship PY26 Washburn Wi. Apostle Islands
I just bought that same package (yeah, I know you can down load for free-blah blah blah, but this is a complete working set, with instrustions and extras you don't get on the free version and it's plug and play with the GPS provided)

I also bought a cheap "ToughBook" laptop off e-bay dedicated to run it as on boat chartplotter...

I'm thinking it beats the heck out of a 2" handheld screen (hand held becomes secondary/backup)

I'm doing the Great Lakes ...Don't know about the big blue crossing...

edit: nevermind, I see your already there....for shore crusing should be great...
 

Sumner

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Jan 31, 2009
5,254
Macgregor & Endeavour 26S and 37 Utah's Canyon Country
We love it and couldn't live without it or something similar like Open CPN, also free, in an area like Florida. It took us over 500 miles there with no problems in all new water to us. Unlike Hawaii or the west were you can see land marks in Florida almost everything looks the same.

We will continue to use it on the Endeavour. The Open CPN was easier to use right off the bat and a lot of people like it over SeaClear, but I prefer the SeaClear. You can use all of the free NOAA charts and that should do you, but going some place like the Sea of Cortez can be a problem finding charts that will work.

We recently bought a new radio for the Endeavour since we wanted the DSC saftey feature like on the radio on the Mac. We moved up a little on the radio and for under $250 got a radio that also has AIS and will use it with the SeaClear to display other larger boats. I'd give that serious consideration if you are thinking of sailing to the other islands or maybe even where you are if there is much ship traffic. We were going to have to spend over $250 for the AIS alone and to get it in a good radio where you don't have to run a separate antenna or get a 'splitter' is a real bargain.

If you look at our Florida Trips (see links below) you will see screen...



...shots of our route taken while using SeaClear and also Google Earth ...



...shots of the same areas. Before going to Florida MrBill and others suggested anchorages and I looked at them with Google Earth and saved those images onto the computer so that I could look at them on the trip.

Also there is a lot on the computer that we use for SeaClear here....

http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/macgregor-navigation/Compter-Nav-index.html

The other nice thing is that you can download your trips waypoints at any time into a $60 handheld, like the Garmin Map 76S's we have, and use those for going point to point on a trip. Good backup and easy to use out in the cockpit,

Sum

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Our Endeavour 37[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Our Trips to Utah, Idaho, Canada, Florida[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Our MacGregor S Pages[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Mac-Venture Links[/FONT]
 

Kestle

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Jun 12, 2011
702
MacGregor 25 San Pedro
Sum, what radio did you get? I was thinking of doing the same on AIS as the Port of LA gets busy.

Jeff
 

Sumner

.
Jan 31, 2009
5,254
Macgregor & Endeavour 26S and 37 Utah's Canyon Country
Sum, what radio did you get? I was thinking of doing the same on AIS as the Port of LA gets busy.

Jeff
We bought the Standard Horizon 2100...

http://www.thegpsstore.com/Standard-Horizon-Matrix-AIS-GX2100-Black-P2274.aspx

... and I see the price is even about $10.00 less than we paid for it. We have it at home at the moment, but will install in the Endeavour when we return to it. I might get a chance to try it out at home with SeaClear before we leave, but of course there won't be any AIS targets in SE Utah.

They also have the 2150 that is basically an upgraded 2100 designed to work with some of the older chart plotters, but it is quite a bit more expensive than the 2100. It has a couple other features that I didn't see us needing so couldn't see spending the difference...

http://www.thegpsstore.com/Standard-Horizon-Matrix-AIS-GX2150-VHF-P2629.aspx

...since I feel the 2100 will do all that we need it to do. If you do want to connect to an older chart plotter you should look at both and decide which one you need.

On the Mac we have a Standard Horizon Eclipse with DSC ...

http://www.thegpsstore.com/Standard-Horizon-Eclipse-GX1150-VHF-Radio-P2583.aspx

...and have been very happy with it....

http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/macgregor2/inside-25.html

We were going to buy another for the Endeavour, but when I saw the 2100 for a little more than $100 more with the AIS I felt that was really a good deal. We hope to take that boat to places where the AIS might be a good safety feature,

Sum

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Our Endeavour 37[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]
Our Trips to Utah, Idaho, Canada, Florida
[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Our MacGregor S Pages[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]
Mac-Venture Links
[/FONT]
 
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